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32 LPD Officers Take Part in Poll on Womack Vote

The vote is in response to an anonymous letter sent by purported PBA members within the department that asked the union to hold a no-confidence vote on Chief Lisa Womack.

By JEREMY MAREADYTHE LEDGER

Published: Monday, November 18, 2013 at 11:19 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 at 1:42 a.m.

LAKELAND | Union members of the Lakeland Police Department took the first of two straw poll votes Monday night to determine whether an official vote of no-confidence is warranted on Police Chief Lisa Womack.

The meeting was held at Il Forno restaurant at 6:30 p.m. and 32 officers showed up to cast their vote, said West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association President Nick Marolda. The meeting was over shortly after 7 p.m.

"We will review the ballots tonight," Marolda said, declining to reveal the results of the first night of voting. "We'll wait and have another meeting next Monday to make sure everybody had the opportunity to show up and speak and have any other questions answered. And we'll count them all up next week and we'll come out with the final tally."

Members leaving the restaurant Monday declined to talk to a Ledger reporter.

Marolda emailed a letter to the nearly 200 PBA members Sunday alerting them of Monday's vote. A second vote for members who couldn't attend Monday will be held Nov. 25 at the same time and location, Marolda said. If enough votes are gathered, Marolda will again schedule additional meetings to take a formal vote of no-confidence on Womack.

"Once again, the reason for this meeting is to settle this issue once and for all, and to determine if the 'majority' of PBA members want to conduct a no-confidence vote," Marolda wrote in his email Sunday. "No anonymous letters, no anonymous unconfirmed phone calls. If you so choose, you can sign an attendance sheet, and mark a ballot which will clearly indicate what you would like the PBA TO DO, and how you would like the PBA to proceed."

The vote is in response to an anonymous letter sent by purported PBA members within the department that asked the union to hold a no-confidence vote on Chief Lisa Womack.

Marolda said he has been told union members are afraid to speak up, so the only fair way to handle the situation is through a general membership meeting to take a poll on the issue. Despite asking members he knows, Marolda said he has not been able to verify the validity of the letter.

In his recent letter notifying the members of the poll, Marolda stressed members be off duty at the time of the meeting.

"I don't want someone to come back and say they were conducting PBA business on duty," Marolda said Monday. "It's better being in an off- duty status. I don't need any problems."

Marolda said Monday's discussion with officers before the vote was positive and there weren't any questions about why they were there.

"It was just discussing the state of the union stuff and the guys were like, 'Let's vote and let's get this thing going,'" Marolda said.

The decision on what the threshold of the vote should be was left to the union members Monday, Marolda said.

"They came up with a consensus and said, 'Whoever shows up, 50 percent plus one of people casting a vote would be fair,'" Marolda said. "I agreed with that and thought it was fair."

The low turnout at the meeting was expected by Marolda because of another meeting involving LPD members being held at the same time, along with other officers being off and wanting to be with their families on their day off, he said. "I can understand that."

[ Jeremy Maready can be reached at jeremy.maready@theledger.com or 863-802- 7592. ]

<p>LAKELAND | Union members of the Lakeland Police Department took the first of two straw poll votes Monday night to determine whether an official vote of no-confidence is warranted on Police Chief Lisa Womack. </p><p>The meeting was held at Il Forno restaurant at 6:30 p.m. and 32 officers showed up to cast their vote, said West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association President Nick Marolda. The meeting was over shortly after 7 p.m.</p><p>"We will review the ballots tonight," Marolda said, declining to reveal the results of the first night of voting. "We'll wait and have another meeting next Monday to make sure everybody had the opportunity to show up and speak and have any other questions answered. And we'll count them all up next week and we'll come out with the final tally."</p><p>Members leaving the restaurant Monday declined to talk to a Ledger reporter.</p><p>Marolda emailed a letter to the nearly 200 PBA members Sunday alerting them of Monday's vote. A second vote for members who couldn't attend Monday will be held Nov. 25 at the same time and location, Marolda said. If enough votes are gathered, Marolda will again schedule additional meetings to take a formal vote of no-confidence on Womack.</p><p>"Once again, the reason for this meeting is to settle this issue once and for all, and to determine if the 'majority' of PBA members want to conduct a no-confidence vote," Marolda wrote in his email Sunday. "No anonymous letters, no anonymous unconfirmed phone calls. If you so choose, you can sign an attendance sheet, and mark a ballot which will clearly indicate what you would like the PBA TO DO, and how you would like the PBA to proceed."</p><p>The vote is in response to an anonymous letter sent by purported PBA members within the department that asked the union to hold a no-confidence vote on Chief Lisa Womack.</p><p>Marolda said he has been told union members are afraid to speak up, so the only fair way to handle the situation is through a general membership meeting to take a poll on the issue. Despite asking members he knows, Marolda said he has not been able to verify the validity of the letter.</p><p>And by Monday, that hadn't changed.</p><p>When asked Monday whether Marolda had heard any more concerns, he said, "Nope, nothing at all. That's why I'm intrigued (about the straw poll)."</p><p>In his recent letter notifying the members of the poll, Marolda stressed members be off duty at the time of the meeting.</p><p>"I don't want someone to come back and say they were conducting PBA business on duty," Marolda said Monday. "It's better being in an off- duty status. I don't need any problems."</p><p>Marolda said Monday's discussion with officers before the vote was positive and there weren't any questions about why they were there.</p><p>"It was just discussing the state of the union stuff and the guys were like, 'Let's vote and let's get this thing going,'" Marolda said. </p><p>The decision on what the threshold of the vote should be was left to the union members Monday, Marolda said.</p><p>"They came up with a consensus and said, 'Whoever shows up, 50 percent plus one of people casting a vote would be fair,'" Marolda said. "I agreed with that and thought it was fair."</p><p>The low turnout at the meeting was expected by Marolda because of another meeting involving LPD members being held at the same time, along with other officers being off and wanting to be with their families on their day off, he said. "I can understand that."</p><p>[ Jeremy Maready can be reached at jeremy.maready@theledger.com or 863-802- 7592. ]</p>